If you were to ask me, as a social media enthusiast and OG blogger (never mind, just exactly HOW old gangstuh, you whippuh-snappuh, you!), hey Liz (psssst, that's me!), what IS the MOST difficult part of blogging...wait, I KNOW THIS!...for me, it's typing out this introductory sentence. This first paragraph is crucial, as it serves as a mini-outline for the blog post: It tells the reader what the blog post is about -- the hook, if you will. Here's mine: Life with teenage/adult kids does NOT get any less complicated, in fact, I haven't performed THIS many face-palms in the... Read more →

I was pregnant with our oldest daughter when Garth (not his real name) and I bought our house, which makes for an awesome timeline...because our oldest daughter turned 21 in November...and now I don't have to worry about doing too much math, to figure out that we bought this house 21 years ago and...YES!!!...I'm an awesome planner, like that. 3 more kids later, not so much. This house was supposed to be our starter home. What?!? Okay, fine. I guess it's safe to say that we're just really sloooooooooooow starters...ahem...aaaaaanyway, a modest 3 bedroom home would fit us perfectly. 3... Read more →

Contrary to what the rest of my family feels (except for my son, who celebrates his birthday on the 23rd), January is one of my most favorite months of the year. For me, waking up on New Year's Day is sort of like turning to a fresh page in a brand new notebook or purchasing a novel I've been aching to read. Half the excitement is in the anticipation of the journey, equaled only by the endless possibilities in watching the progression of a story unfold. Personal blogging is a lot like that: I have ALL the words in January,... Read more →

Garth (not his real name) and I have been planning to paint our house for a long while, however, like most of our DIY projects (see also: all of them), preparing for one thing...leads to eleven more unplanned projects...which need to be addressed, first...before we can even begin thinking about starting on...ummmmm...wait, what WERE we talking about, again? [blows bangs out of eyes, looks down at hands, picks at chipped fingernail polish] OH YEAH! Painting the house. Right. So, it doesn't help that one of us is more of a...let's just sit back and wait...perhaps think about this a little... Read more →

I'm very proud to partner with the good folks at Sauder, a manufacturer of affordable furniture you assemble yourself, and participate in the Sauder challenge: to share our experience(s) with Sauder and, hopefully, inspire other families (like mine) who have very little extra and literally, no room, or time to spare. I've been writing online for 11 years -- my first blog post went live on September 2, 2003 -- which is like forever ago, in the evolution of the blogging community. Today, I enjoy working to help others find online publishing opportunities and, hopefully, help further their blogging endeavors,... Read more →

My brother and I grew up in a 5 room house that was roughly 950 square feet, surrounded by steel mills and iron factories, and a mind-bogglingly complicated network of railroad tracks running along a port built to accommodate large tankers sailing their way through to New York City. Sitting on my parents' patio, flanked by rose bushes and arbors shaded by nearly every flowering and fruiting tree you can imagine, you'd believe yourself to be somewhere completely different. My father was a landscaper throughout our elementary school years and he'd often times bring home truckloads of stuff -- trees... Read more →

In an ongoing effort to cut down on the clutter (or clut-tuh, if you're from Jersey), I decided to re-arrange our kitchen counter (AGAIN!) and, while I was at it, organize myself a lovely little coffee station. Because COFFEE!!! But the sugar bowls were taking up way too much counter space that we already didn't have and yes, I said sugar BOWLS: one for me and one for my husband, Garth (not his real name) who prefers the alternative-type of sweetener (a.k.a. sweet-nuh). I remembered my MIL gave us a box of stuff, that was never added to the yard... Read more →